Tainted Blood
by AODtrunks lover
Summary: While stopping an evil creature, Gohan retains minor injuries. But now he is acting strange, and murders are occuring all over. Piccolo decides to get to the bottom of it.
1. Creature's Story

**Hi everybody! This takes place sometime after Frieza, but before the whole Andriod saga started. Possible OOC-ness and some mushy stuff later on. **

The Z senshi closed in around the monster.  
It's red-silver eyes glistened madly. It curled it's fingers in a desperate imatation of claws. It's mouth opened, only to allow a mad hissing sound to escape. The creatures eyes had since filled with panic, they darted from one warrior to the next; only to realize it was becoming more and more trapped by the second. In a last ditch effort to frighten it's attackers, the creature barred it's fangs.

Gohan saw the sheen of the fangs, and instantly felt afraid. He'd only heard of vampire's in books and on some late night movies. He knew of their power to turn people into their slaves. He knew once you were a vampire, nothing was going to help you. Gohan knew you stayed in the state in which you were bitten for all eternity.  
For some reason, Gohan's mind had accepted all this.  
But, what he couldn't comprehend, was how this vampire had once been a human.

* * *

_Four Weeks Prior...  
Bulma sat quietly in her main lab with the best of her fellow technitions and doctors. She believed they had discovered some cure for blood-related diseases. Whenever some foriegn body was placed in the blood sample, she'd seen time and time again, the potion she developed had devoured the toxins with ease. It didn't matter what the toxin caused; sickle-cell anemia, AIDS, blood clots, or whatever else. They were all destroyed just the same in a matter of seconds.  
Doctors were already being called in from the most prestigious hospitals all over the globe. All of them willing to pay top dollar to get their hands on such a magnificant discovery. _

It was truely a blessing they didn't.

A lab technition had come in to clean the floors after hours. As far as anyone could tell, he had knocked over the blood sample with the new medicaine in it, and as his job had demanded, he bent down to clean the blood from the floor. His right index fingertouched the gooey substance. And unfortunately, his right index fingerhad a large,open cut.  
The substance seized the cut with animal-like intensity, and pulled itself into theflesh wound.  
The lab tech fell back and screamed his lungs out. It was already too late. The poor man began to sieze in a matter of seconds. Several of the doctors who had been just down the hall heard his scream and rushed too it's source. The doctors had found him unconcious.  
One of the doctors lowered herself down to his level to check for a pulse. She would be his first victim.  
When her face was mear inches from his, he struck. He grasped her face and pulled her to his newly-grown fangs. The fangs ripped flesh and muscle to find her coratted artery. And when they did, the creature feasted.

_The blood had attacked his system just as it was made too, but instead of curing him of any and all diseases that could have been in his system, it mutated him. The sample seemed to stimulate the part of his brain that controlled eating. It mutated him to grow fangs in order to help feed this new craving.  
As time went on, he became more and more like the vampire's in the stories. Hebecame absolutely repulshed by light of any kind. His eyes turned to their present, lifeless red-silver. And his cravings became more and more severe. For the next four weeks he would kill close to seven people a night. Not transforming them into living dead, but outright killing them. Draining every drop of crismson life that flowed in his victims' veins._

_But that wasn't the worst part.  
Through some unfortunate trial-and-error schemes, Bulma discovered that the vampire wasn't fazed by the usual Cross and Holy Water. Bulma theorized that, perhaps, since the creature wasn't created by anything evil; it couldn't be killed by anything holy, such as normal vampires._

_To the Z senshi, there is always another way to win. And their way to win was simply blast him apart without getting bitten themselves. Nothing is ever as easy as it sounds, however.  
The creature's ki had barely been manipulated, so it didn't stick out at all when they tried to track it down._

_And now they had it cornored, but every single one of them knew it wasn't going down without a fight._

_

* * *

_The creatures eyes scanned the five Z warriors that stood before it. It's mind began to process the situation with cold, machanical ease.  
"Find one with fear. Fear breeds blood. Pass power in fear."  
The creature's mind repeated the three phrases like a twisted mantra. It's lifeless eyes peered into their souls, it's mind tuned like a radar for the very hint of fear. 

It's eyes passed a short man with spikey hair. No fear.  
It's eyes moved onto a tall green man. No fear, either.  
A short, bald man. No fear.  
A taller man with spiked hair and an orange gi. No fear.  
Now the creature was becoming frustrated. The mutated blood was eager to pass itself on before the host was inevitably destroyed. And then...  
A short boy, no more than six or seven. A twinge of fear clouded a cornor of his mind.

The creature stared at the boy. His fear seemed delicious to every sense in it's body. It could smell his fear, taste it, hear it, and even see it on some level. The boy was young, he could easily carry the virus for years. The creature vaguely felt a grotesque smile form on it's face.

All the Z warriors braced themselves. They could easily tell the creature was ready to attack. In fact, all of them noticed it had began to drool. A small dribble had already marked it's way down it's pale chin.

"Okay. Does everyone know their positions?" Goku asked in a hushed voice.  
All the Z warriors quietly nodded their heads.  
"Now!" Goku yelled.  
All the Z warriors jumped directly in the air, each one of them criss-crossing each other just enough to confuse the creature. Then, just as suddenly as they'd jumped into the air, they each hit the ground; forming a circle around the creature.

"Special Beam Cannon!"  
"Masenko!"  
"Kamehameha!"  
"Galic Gun!"  
"Destructo Disk!"  
All the Z senshi unleashed their strongest attacksupon the creature.

The attacks created a thick curtain of grayish-black smoke. Gohan stood in a state of mixed shock and amazement. He'd never seen such a fantastic blast. Suddenly, Gohan felt a sickening sensation in his stomach. Like something wasn't right. The last thing Gohan saw before he hit the ground, was a pair of red-silver eyes coming at him from the depths of the smoke.


	2. Minor injuries

Gohan was vaguely aware that his back was now on the ground, but he hadn't yet become aware of the fact that he was trying to scream. He could indistinctly make out the creature's form on top of him, with it's talon-like fingers digging into his shoulders.  
But, all these feelings were begining to fade. Withthose red-silver eyes boring into his own, Gohan felt as if nothing mattered. All his fears, all his mental cries for help, and even all his screams were begining to fade in the haunting comfort of those eyes.  
Gohan had the ill-defined sense that his head was being pushed back, and that he could see two small glints in the masking smoke.  
The creature began to hiss, and Gohan's screams resumed.

Piccolo had stood opposite Gohan's position in the formation. He hated to admit it, but he didn't like the idea of Gohan actually being involved in this fight. He had heard about the 'Fry pan incident' at Master Roshi's house when it was discovered Gohan had been allowed to see 'Nightmare on Elm Street.' The kid had had nightmares for two weeks afterward. He wondered if himself and Goku would be subjected to 'The Pan' if Gohan got freaked out about this fight. Vampires had to frightening on some level to a seven year old.

Piccolo's sensitive ears suddenly picked up a noise. It started as a shout, but tapered into a low mewling or moaning sound. He also felt like, what humans may call, a splitting migrane. It was as quick as a lightning strike and just as forcefull in carrying it's message.  
"Piccolo-san..."  
Piccolo's breath caught in his throat. His mind began to race with possiblities, and ways to stop them from happening. He knew he couldn't outright charge into the smoke. It was too heavy, too thick, and charging in could do more harm than good.

The smoke was beginning to thin out. Not enough for optimal vision, but enough to pick out shady silohettes and shapes.

Piccolo looked through the fog, frantically searching for any signs of distress. That's when he saw the cause of Gohan's cry.  
He didn't know how he could tell it was Gohan, by some miracle he just knew. Gohan's form was on his back, with the creature pinning him down. Piccolo was shocked out of his momentary panic by the sound of Gohan's renewed screams.  
Piccolo rushed at the form. As he came closer and closer, the details of the two forms on the ground became sharper and sharper. Piccolo could see the pale neck and hands of the creature. He could see it's matted and dirty hair. And, bad, he could see it's glinting fangs. And, worse, just as he was almost within arms reach of them, he saw the creatures head thrust forward.

Piccolo wasn't sure he'd flown that fast in all his life. The instant the creature's head had siezed forward, Piccolo was right there. He siezed it by the back of it's pale and clammy neck, violently pulling it off Gohan.  
By now, almost all the smoke had cleared, and the rest of the Z senshi were either right there or very close.

Goku kneeled down and cradled his young son in his arms. He lightly slapped him on each side of the face, desperately trying to bring him back to a conscious state. Goku wasn't totally aware that he was quietly calling his son's name over and over. To his awesome relief, Gohan opened his eyes.

Vegeta materialized in front of Piccolo, with a ready blast in his palm. Piccolo barely had enough time to get his head and body out of the way before Vegeta unleashed his ki onto the creatures' head and neck. The attack worked; it vaporized the creature's head, neck, part of it's shoulders, and Piccolo's lower arm.  
"Thanks Vegeta." Piccolo said sarcastically as he regenerated his arm, wrist, and hand.  
"Serves you right, namek. You should learn to be faster."  
Vegeta smirked smugly.  
Momentarily forgetting Gohan, Piccolo imagined how good it would feel to wipe that smirk right off Vegeta's little face.

"Where'd Kakkarot go off to now?" Vegeta said, bringing Piccolo back to reality.  
Krillen, who had been silent up to now, had the answer. "I think he took Gohan to Bulma's. I guess he wanted to make sure that...thing...didn't infect Gohan."  
Piccolo stared in the direction of Capsule Corp.

Goku had shown up at Capsule Corp. ten minutes ago. He'd been near hysterics. Bulma had been able to figure out that Goku believed that the creature had bitten Gohan's throat.  
Bulma took Gohan back in the exam room, buthad made Goku wait in the lobby. She examined him head to toe. She even took blood work. She spent a good hour and half with the exam. That's when she decided to brief Goku on his son's health.

"He's fine." Bulma said.  
"But...I thought." Goku stammered.  
"Nope. Creature barely even penetrated the skin surface. Whoever grabbed that creature did it just in the nick of time. Gohan only has a few scratches anda few minor cuts on his shoulders, where I think that thing may have grabbed him."  
"But, he's not infected or anything?" Goku asked hopefully.  
"Not one iota of the infected blood showed up in his blood work."  
Goku smiled heartily. "Can I see my son?"

Gohan and Bulma walked calmly down the hall towards the waiting room Bulma had set up. Gohan had no bandages or casts or anything on. He was even smiling. Goku looked up from his hands to see Gohan rushing towards him.  
"Otosan!" Gohan cried, flinging himself into his father's arms.  
"Hey, big guy! You had me worried there!"  
The pair smiled at each other for a brief moment.  
"Whattaya say we go home?" Goku proposed.  
Gohan simply shook his head.

Goku and Gohan flew at a comfortable speed towards their home. Gohan was the first to break the silence.  
"Dad, should we tell mom about this?"  
Goku looked questioningly over at Gohan.  
"I wasn't really hurt, so maybe we just shouldn't give mom something extra to worry about."  
Goku thought about this for a second. "You're right. We'll just keep this between us."  
The father and son both smiled identical smiles as they touched down on their front lawn.


	3. The Voice

One week passed since the incident with the creature.  
Everyone's lives had since returned to normal.  
Soon that would all change...

"Gohan! Could you wash the dishes for me?" Chi-chi called down the stairs.  
She had caught a small cold,and because of it she had spent the past three days in bed. Goku had gone to Capsule Corp for the medicane, leaving just Gohan and Chi-chi in the house.  
Gohan stopped his push-ups and proceeded to the kitchen. He wasn't particularily accustomed to doing household chores such as this, but he figured it was better than letting junk anddirty dishes pile up in the kitchen.  
Gohan took the dish rag from the faucet and began to scrub the dishes. He finished one dish, and then set it aside. Gohan's mind began to wander as his hands became adjusted to the motions of his duty. He gazed wishfully out the window. He set another dish aside. Gohan wistfully watched the birds swoop past the window to gobble up the flies hovering there. Gohan set aside the other dish. Gohan had barely begun his mental dissection of the birds wings when

"Ow!"  
Gohan had been so caught up in his bird watching that he'd failed to notice that he'd grabbed the steak knife out of the soapy water. He'd accidentily sliced the last digit of his index finger wide open. Gohan looked at the cut. He saw the small stream of crimson blood slide down his finger. He'd never realized just how fascinating blood was. So smooth. So precious.

Gohan, unable to stop himself, licked up his finger; catching the stream of blood running down his finger.  
He lifted his head, shut his eyes, and shuddered in pure ecstasy.  
"...so delicious." He whispered.  
Returning to the wound Gohan lapped up the rest of the blood dripping from the cut. Within minutes it began to clot, ending Gohan's feeding. Gohan braced himself against the sink with his palms, shuddering. He couldn't believe what he had just done. Drinking blood was disgusting! But, then, why had he enjoyed it so much?

"Because you are special." Whispered a voice.  
Gohan, startled, looked around. The voice seemed to come from everywhere, and yet came from nowhere.  
"Who are you?" Gohan nervously asked.  
"My dear boy, that is not important right now. What is important is your gift."  
"My gift?"  
"Yes. You see my dear boy, you have exactly the blood type needed to keep me alive."  
"Keep you alive! Who are you! What are you!"  
"Hush! Hush! You needent worry yourself over this. Your half-saiyan side has simply paid off for you. You now have the power to grow stronger as you sleep."  
"As I sleep? If this is some form of new power, then why am I hearing a disembodied voice?"  
"This is simply...an upgrade if you will. Before you were only able to match your opponents blows. I am just an extremely heightened version of that sense. You will be able to see what your oppent will do the instant they do."  
"Really?"  
"Yes. And if you grow strong enough, you will be able to know what your oppenent will do even before they decide."  
"Wow..."  
"But, don't tell anyone about me."  
"Why not?"  
"Do you really want someone to become jealous of you? Do you really want someone trying to take me away from you?"  
"No!"  
"Then don't tell a soul about us. Now you just sit backand let me do all the work."  
Gohan nodded his head in agreement.

The rest of the day passed without incident. Before long it was Gohan's curfew.  
"I can't wait to see how much stronger I am in the morning." Gohan thought gleefully as he covered himself with warm blankets.  
In the darkened room, a disembodied voice began to laugh.


	4. Feeding Time

A young, scantillay clad woman stood under the awning of the bus stop. She could not have been more than twenty, twenty-one at the utmost. She wore tight low-riding blue jeans, a tight tanktop that ended where her midrif began, and a pair of black stillhetto boots. She chatted nonchalantly on her purple cell phone.  
Little did she know she was being watched.

A barely visible figure sat hunched over on the roof of the building to the young lady's back. It's eyes outlined her figure in shades of red, orange, and yellow; almost as if the creature had night vision goggles for eyes. Through the creatures eyes, the young lady's major arteries and heart appeared in a deep rouge. The creature, being an experianced hunter, knew that now was the time to strike; while the prey was distracted. With a malicious grin, the creature began to slink away.

"Denise, you would not believe the party! Girl, you shoulda been there!" The young lady gushed to her friend on the cell phone. She paused as the person on the other end of the phone was speaking.

The creature slowly tip-toed down the fire escape stairs. It could feel it's blood lust growing with every step it took towards it's meal. Just before it prepared to go down the last flight of stairs, it twisted it's head around the cornor of the building to make sure the girl was still alone and in plain sight.

"Yeah, he was cute and all. But with as many girls was hangin on him! He probably got somethin' I don't want!" The girl continued to talk, completely unaware of the danger mere feet from her.  
Suddenly, she heard a faint _Clang_ sound, coming from the allyway.  
The girl stopped her conversation for a moment to glance over at the allyway. Shaking her head she returned to the phone.  
"Nothin'. Just some damn cat."  
Again the girl began to listen as her friend on the other end of the phone began to chatter away.

The creature had succesfully gotten off the fire escape without anyone noticing. It smirked to itself. It watched the prey as it slowly crept up behind it.  
"Humans," it thought "such easy sustinence."

The girl yelped as she felt something snatch her left ankle. In her surprise, she dropped the cell phone; which unfortunately landed between the grates of the sewer drain. She tugged her leg away, taking frightened notice that whatever had grabbed her had left deep claw marks in the leather of her boot. She backed away from the awning and into the light of the streetlamp. She screamed when she saw the claws, and the pair of red-silver eyes.  
She turned and began to run. Normally, she believed she was a good runner; not especially fast, but able to run far longer than anyone else she knew. But, when she had run in the past, she hadn't been wearing high stillhetto boots. Wobbling, she continued to run down the desserted street. When she dared to look behind her, she couldn't see the entire creature stalking her. It was as if the creature was only allowing hertoseethe clawsand the eyes. She refused to let herself look again.

The creature enjoyed games like this. Allowing the human to believe they could get away somehow made the game more fun. It chased her for near to four blocks before itbegan to get boring. With a mighty leap, the creature was determined to end the hunt.

The young lady screamed as a searing pain shot through her entire right leg. She fell painfully to the ground, grinding in dirt and debri. She looked in a panic towards the cause of the pain. The entire back of her right knee had been torn out. All the muscles and tendons that had held her leg together were ripped like frayed bits of wire out of the flesh in her knee. Blood flowed freely from the wound, but the young lady had a good idea that her running career was the least of her worries at this point.  
She looked up, expecting just to see the red-silver eyes; but she was wrong. The creature was allowing itself to be seen. It slowly revealed it's pale and gaunt face, surrounded by dark, limp hair. It darkly smiled, almost as a gorrilla would, to reveal it's two extremely long and extremely sharp looking fangs accompanied by a mass of sharp minature fangs where normal teeth would be. The young lady began to scream.

The creature lept at it's wounded victem, and in one movement had torn out the entire throat of the young lady. It greedily lapped up the blood that pulsed from the wound in the girls final moments. When her heart no longer supplied the blood, the creature dug it's fangs into the meat of her throat and began to suck. It made grotesque grunting and sighing noises as it drained her blood.

Thirty minutes later, the creature slunk back into the allyway closes to it's victem. The girls body remained on the desserted sidewalk, her mouth still in a silent scream. The creature licked at it's fingers in an almost feline manner, ridding it's hands of blood. It sighed contently.  
"Good for tonight." It thought mechanically. "More later."

Gohan awoke well rested the next morning. He rolled out of bed and calmly put on his training gi. But as he did, he noticed something strange. He had mud under his finger nails. He could have sworn that he had scrubbed his hands the night before when he had showered.  
"Must have been more tired than I thought." He said to himself. He walked downstairs to the kitchen. Out of habit, he flipped the TV to the local news. He listened half heartedly as the weather and sports were announced by the well dressed man and woman behind the desk.  
"In other news, a youngwoman was found dead this morning."  
Gohan stared at the TV as the report went on.  
A picture of a pretty young lady flashedover the screen, quite possibly a senior picture."Keesha Buzsda was found dead this morning. Police believe a ritual gang hazing right may have gone wrong. If you have any information on the murder of Keesha Buzsda, please contact yourlocal police." The news lady read into the camera.  
"How horrible." Gohan thought. "I hope they catch whoever did that."

Without anything further, Gohan set out to find Piccolo for a good spar.


	5. Voice return

**Hey everyone! Me again. Listen I just wanted to thank the following people who were kind enough to constantly review this fanfic:  
Simba-rulz  
Shadow Dreamer 27  
DBZ Chick 1  
Daffodil728  
SweetMystery  
XZanayo  
Wickedomen1  
You are all so helpfull in the continuation of _Tainted Blood_.  
Now...ON WITH THE STORY!

* * *

**

Piccolo hovered quietly in midair. His meditation was unintentionally focused on the murder of the young lady in the city. He had heard the police chatter about it over their radios. To him, the killing didn't seem like some accident. To him, it sounded as if someone, or something, had chased the girl down and killed her. The question was, what could have such malice and hunger to hunt down a human being and kill it? Unless...  
"No way! We killed that thing a week ago! Vegeta blasted it's freakin' head off!" he thought violently to himself. There was no way in hell that that thing could come back after losing it's head. But...then what had chased down that girl in the middle of the night? And what if it struck again?

Bulma stood at the other end of her mourge. She'd been asked by the city to build one and run it since word of her successful lab had reached the city council. She snapped on the last glove. She'd already examined her autopsy tools, and they were all as sharp as ever. She turned to look at the young lady on the slab. It was the young girl who'd been killed the night before. Bulma had no idea why the cops had brought her the body, they already knew what had killed her. But they wanted a full tox screen, organ exam...the works. Bulma sighed. This was no work for a scientist like herself, this was work for a mortician. She picked up the scalpal, walked over to the covered body and lifted the sheet.  
Bulma flinched when she saw the throat of the young lady. She hadn't expected so much gore when she read the report. As she stared at the throat, she noticed something. She set the scalpal down and bent closer to the torn throat.

There were teeth marks in the flesh.

Not knife marks. Not needle marks. Teeth. Sharp, triangular teeth marks were in the shredded flesh of the woman's throat. Bulma paled, and stopped breating. She hadn't seen something like this since...since...  
"Oh...my...god..."

Gohan walked happily through the forest, idly looking for his mentor. Gohan didn't think he'd remembered a day quite this good in a long time. The sun was high, the clouds were gone, small woodlend animals scurried about, and Son Gohan didn't have a care in the world.  
"Where are you going?"  
It was the voice. Gohan turned, again looking for the voice, but giving up and decided to answer even though he could not see anyone.  
"To find Piccolo-san."  
"Why?"  
"To spar." This was beginning to sound trivial to Gohan.  
"Why?"  
"So I can become as strong as my dad."  
The voice laughed quite audibly.  
"My dear boy, don't you see? You are already stronger. Have you not sensed your ki? It's huge compared to yesterday's, in fact; why don't you look at it now?"  
Gohan slowly searched himself. The voice was right, his ki was substancely higher than it was yesterday. It was unreal how much stronger he had gotten simply while he slept. A smile of pride krept it's way across his face. "I can't wait to show Piccolo-san!" He exclaimed.  
"**NO!**" The voice boomed. Gohan nearly fell over in surprise.  
The voice calmed to it's normal, soothing tone.  
"Boy, don't you see. The namek will be jealous. He will try to tell you the power is evil, he will take it away from you. Don't you see, training with the namek will make you weaker."  
Gohan hadn't thought of that. The voice continued to speak, but he didn't hear more of it. He simply wondered if Piccolo would really take something he was jealous of.  
"...go home." Was the last part Gohan heard, before turning and beginning to walk home as the voice commanded. "Piccolo-san." He whispered quietly.

Gohan hadn't realized that as the voice appeared, the sky darkened, the temperature dropped, and the animals ran for cover.


	6. Playtime is Over

Gohan's stomach felt uneasy as he journeyed from the middle of the woods toward his mountain home. He didn't know it, but the uneasy feeling in his gut was only a warning; a forebringer of the disaster that was to be the next days.

The Creature's spirit was becoming restless. The host body had not allowed itself to be controled, therefore, the Creature had no way to feed. It could feel itself growing weaker by the minute; it needed the blood of a living soul. It knew the boy drinking his own blood would be insufficient. No, it needed not only blood, but slaves. Yes, the Creature decided long ago as it was formed in the human's body that it would raise an undead army to conquer the world. It would turn the earth into a desolate, dark wasteland; ruled only by it's undead followers.

Gohan trekked merrily over the ridge overlooking his modest home. From the higher peak he could see the trees blossoming, the flowers bowing slightly to the wind, hismother hanging clothes out to dry...

The Creature snapped to attention. The boy's mother looked absolutely...delicious.

"Listen, child!" The voice hollered to Gohan.  
"Yes?" Gohan asked shakily.  
"Your mother...She will make you stronger..."  
"What? Okassan? How?"  
"...drink herblood, take her energy."

Gohan stared at his mother in the distance for a few moments, processing the voice's command.

**"NO**!"Hescreamed into the clearing. He began torun in the opposite direction of his mother, fearing the harm hewasbeing commanded to do to her.  
The inside of his mind became the chant of the voice.

"drink her blood, take her energy. Drink her blood, take her energy..."

Gohan's eyes clenched shut and he ran faster and blindly deeper into the forest. The chant grew increasingly louder, faster... until it ran together in a mind-blowing yell.

"drinkherbloodtakeherenergydrinkherblood**takeherenergy  
DRINKHERBLOODTAKEHERENERGY!"**

Gohan let out a scream as his last resistance. He fell to the ground, suddenly unable to move. He could feel himself convulsing in some freak way. He knew then that, whatever the voice was, it had been evil; and it was going to use his body.  
Gohan's sight faded into blackness; and the battle for earth's future began.

The Creature didn't want to have to take full possession of the boy. On the contrary, the boy had been an excellent asset; nobody in their right minds ever suspected him of the murder of the woman in the street. Better yet, no one would suspect him of attempting to raise an undead army, either. It narrowed it's red-silver eyes. Meal time.

Chi-chi hummed quietly to herself as she hung the last sheet to dry on the line. She sometimes regretted the fact that she had never gotten an automatic dryer in the house; but today was not one of those days. The sun was shining...and nothing else.  
The birds had not chirped for the last several minutes, and the creatures of the forest had ceased their rustlings for the same period of time.  
She shrugged her shoulders; taking the silence as the sign of some bird of prey or something like that.

She hadn't seen the shadow.  
She hadn't heard the panting.  
She hadn't seen the drool.  
She hadn't smelt the essence of death.


	7. To Raise an Army

The Creature slowly stalked the boy's mother, as one animal would stalk another. It slunk from behind one sheet to another, slowly following the woman as she slowly hung her sheets and hummed in her honey-sweet voice. The creature fell onto all fours, and prepared for the final moments of the hunt.

Chi-chi felt a chill run up her spine; she knew something was definitely not right. On one whim she turned around, and felt a scream catch in her throat. Her clothes basket fell silently from her hands to the ground.  
She saw what looked like her Gohan, but it wasn't-**couldn't**-be her Gohan. This _thing_ had fingers that stretched like claws, hair that hung limply around it's face and neck, large canine teeth, and **a lot** of razor-sharp minor teeth.

Time stood still as The Woman stared The Creature in the eyes, and then all things suddenly snapped back into reality as The Creature sprung at The Woman. Of course, The Woman ran; The Creature always loved it when they ran, it made the chase so much more fun.

Chi-chi felt her breath hitch in her throat as she ran, all the while knowing something deadly was on her heels. She threw her head back and uttered a small squeal as she begged her body to give her a second wind.  
And that's when The Creature struck.

The Creature drove it's head into her lower back, opting out of the disabling factor because of the disdainful idea of a faulty army. The Woman fell to the ground with barely a cry.  
Perfect.

Chi-chi barely knew what hit her.She felt two rough hands roll her over. She barely had time to struggle when she saw the most enchanting sight of her life, two red-silver orbs. She could do nothing but stare into the hypnotizing colors as they began to swirl and dance within their orbital shape.  
A single scream was heard echoing through the forest as a white-hot pain shot through the woman's entire being.

The scream quickly found the ears of the one called Son Goku. He would know that voice anywhere even if itwas twisted in pain. He dropped the fish he had been wrestling out of the small pond, not even bothering to redress himself in his shirt and pants; opting to run wet and clad only in his pants through the thick woods.

The Creature lay on the dead woman, drinking the crimson sustinence from her vains; knowing soon that she would be a part of an undead army. A scent of fresh blood suddenly reaching it's sensitive nose, noting that this scent gave way to a power that was far beyond the one lying under it.  
Goku ran into the clearing,and felt his heart skip a beat. His wife lay dead in the wake before him, he knew she was dead for he couldn't feel her familiar ki signature. He clutched her fragile body gently and tightly to his chest, allowing tears to flow freely down his lightly tanned cheeks.

The Creature hid quietly in the brush nearby, watching the stronger warrior weeping over The Woman's body. It decided then that the stalking technique would not do as it had done with the female. No, an outright attack was far better at this point.

Goku howled as he felt claws dig into his chest and knives pierce his throat. He dropped his dead wife to the ground as he fought in vain to force his attacker off of him. The claws dug deeper into his flesh allowing a steady blood flow from Goku's pecs. He threw his fist back and hit The Creature hard in the face, knocking it off him. Goku tried in vain to see the attacker's features, but only succeeded in seeing a blurred version of what could only be his son.  
But his son would never do anything like this.

Two blank-eyed zombies sat motionless in the kitchen of what had once been the Son house. Their once bright, vivacious eyes now held nothing. They had the eyes of the dead, well technically, the undead.  
The Creature sat across from the two puppets, smiling happily through blood-stained teeth. Knowing that, in moments, three more victims would add themselves to the undead army.

"I don't see why Kakkorot's onna wanted us over here so badly."  
Vegeta complained as he haphazardly drove the air car towards Mt. Poazu. His mate had insisted that they go directly when they were called, or else. He growled in spite of himself. Since when did the Prince of Saiyans let himself be ordered around by a woman?

Vegeta stepped out of the car first momentarily, and fatally, letting his guard down. Bulma stepped out of the car next, noting that both Goku and Chi-chi were both standing outside their house. She noted uneasily that they were staring at them very...oddly.  
Both Goku and Chi-chi pounced at the man and the woman in front of them, reacting tothe telepathic message from their master.

Because of their momentary let down in their guards, both The Man and The Woman were pinned to the ground hard. Both of the strangers were howling and cussing as they struggled to regain their footing. The strength of the undead would far outmatch that of the mortals.  
The Creature slowly walked from out from behind the two slaves, brandishing it's razor teeth.

The screams of both the Saiyan man and the Human woman wafted throughout the forest.


	8. Discovery

Piccolo's eyes widened as he gasped for air. He couldn't believe what he had just seen. He had been meditating near his favorite waterfall when he felt Chi-chi's ki fade and wink out. Piccolo began flying at a steady but not at all fast past towards the Son residence.  
When he felt Goku's energy wink out as well, he stopped dead in his tracks.  
"If this...entity...is strong enough to kill Son, I'd better lay low." Piccolo thought.  
He lowered himself to the ground and continued his investigation on foot.

He stood poised on the edge of the great woods that lay around the Son residence. His ki was supressed immensely, so that it was no more noticable than that of a common forest creature. He spotted the blood trail immediately, running from a spot closer to the wood and leading into the house itself. Piccolo could see no other sign of trouble in sight.  
Until the wind shifted.  
The sheets previously blocking Piccolo's view where no longer hindering his perception.

He could plainly see Chi-chi's bloody body sprawled on the ground, her dried blood trailing from what looked like a set of razor-sharp teeth. Piccolo could feel his gut filling with ice cold fear as he looked at that body.  
"I've seen dead people before!" He screamed at himself.  
"She's just a **corpse** now! A **body** with no soul! An entity with no ki! Why am I so fucking scared!"  
Piccolo stared into Chi-chi's dead face, until he was sure Chi-chi's body was staring right back at him.  
Then Chi-chi's body smiled at him.

Piccolo ducked against the nearest tree. He slid, back towards the tree, until he was sitting on the ground. He placed his purple tongue between his teeth, to assure that his chattering teeth could not be heard.  
"That...**did not **just happen!" He screamed in his head.  
He sucked down the lump in his throat and turned around to really see if that...thing was alive or if he had just imagined it.  
He poked his head out from behind the tree and quickly pulled it back again.

Chi-chi's body had stood up and was staggering towards the Son residence. Piccolo peeked again, and saw she was staggering toward the Son household...behind another creature.  
"That's...not Son..." Piccolo thought.  
Chi-chi's unsteady, and downright clumsy, way of moving made it difficult for Piccolo to see exactly who, or what, Chi-chi was following. It was when the lead creature turned around to see that Chi-chi was still following it, that Piccolo realized who exactly it was.  
"Gohan!" Piccolo thought. "It...looks like Gohan, if he were soaking wet and in pain." Piccolo thought. "I've got to help him!"

Piccolo was about to spring upon the duo headed toward the house when he was suddenly stopped.  
"Piccolo! Don't!"  
It was Kami.  
"Don't approach those two!" His aged voice warned.  
"Why not? The boy is in trouble and..." Piccolo tried to counter  
"He's safe...for the present momment. Now get up here and I'll tell you everything I know."  
"What?! You don't even know what's going on...now stay out of this old man before I..."  
"JUST GET UP HERE!"

Piccolo took one last look of the two figures dissappearing into the house, and then he turned and flew as fast as he possibly could away from where he was. It wasn't long after he took off, he estimated around twenty or twenty five minutes later, he heard the screams of what he believed were Bulma and Vegeta.  
He contemplated running back to help them for a momment, but a small voice in the back of his head told him that they were already goners. He growled under his breath, and continued begrudgingly towards the Lookout.  
"I swear Gohan, I'm coming to help you as soon as I figure out what's going on. And I swear, if any**one** or any**thing** has hurt you, I'll make them wish they had never been born!"

* * *

I felt I needed to elaborate on where Piccolo has been through the past few chapters. As I read through them again I realized he kind of dissapeared after chapter 1. Since this is not GT, I figured I should show exactly what he did when first Chi-chi, then Goku die.

Oh, and I'm also going on the fact that since Goku, Chi-chi, Bulma, and Vegeta are "undead" at this point, I believe they wouldn't have ki signatures that they would normally have. Just my perspective.  
Sorry for the wait .:)


	9. Chaos

"This had better be good, Old man." Piccolo growled.  
"The world is in great danger now." Kami replied lowly.  
"Gohan is in great danger right now!" Piccolo cried.  
"You don't understa..."  
"Not ten minutes ago I saw a vile, wretched creature slink in the Son house. I'm sure Gohan is in danger of whatever happened to ChiChi happening to him!"  
"Piccolo," Kami stated, fear evident in his voice "You saw the creatures Son Gohan has turned them into."

_Meanwhile, on the Earth below  
_A small child sat on the roof of a random car. It snarled at each person as he or she walked by.  
It wasn't long before the owner of the car came out from the near coffee shop.  
"What are you doing on my car?" He asked indignantly. The child gave no reply. He walked hastily across the street, his agitation growing with every step he took.  
"Whatsa matter? Are you deaf?" He reached his car; he stood an arms length from the child, he decided to forcibly remove him.  
A quick blur moved between him and his car.

Blood spurted from his torn throat. He couldn't muster a scream to describe how he felt. Before the people around him could even muster a reason to be concerned, a dark-haired woman leapt from the shadows and bit down on the injured man's throat. That is precisely when the pandemonium broke out.  
People ran screaming for all they were worth away from this scene, only to be accosted by three other attackers. Two dark-haired men and one blue-haired woman savagely snarled and pounced upon people, tearing large chunks of flesh from their bones and drinking minute amounts of blood.  
No one was immune to their attacks; the young, old, infirm, and even children fell in their wake.  
The police arrived in a matter of minutes.  
They boxed in one attacker, a man with dark, spiky hair wearing a blood-stained orange gi, within seconds. They leapt from their cars and pointed their weapons.  
The assailant hissed at them, misting a combination of spittle and blood from it's fanged mouth.

An officer was startled when he felt someone at his back. He turned roughly, only to see a woman dressed in a maroon business suit. She had a serious wound covering her right shoulder.  
"Don't worry ma'am, help will be here soo..."  
He was cut off abruptly as the woman lunged forward and sank her teeth into his face. The officer screamed in pain and fear as he felt his flesh being torn away. The other units began to panic.  
"That's not one of the original attackers!" One shouted.  
"It's an ambush!" Shouted another.  
"Call for backup! Call for..." Shouted a third.  
Severely wounded people were on them, biting and tearing at flesh. The officers struggled until the mass of people was so great that it formed nothing more than several dog piles of grunting, bloodied people.

The people not attacking the local law enforcement began to rush the houses. People cowered in their homes as horribly disfigured people broke through the doors and windows, viciously attempting to attack the people who dwelled within.

_Far Away on Master Roshi's Island_  
"This is terrible!" Krillen cried, watching the horror on the local news channels.  
The helicopters of the various networks had dispatched when they intercepted the police radio calls, and were now broadcasting the entire scene to those within range.  
"What's...happening to them?" Yamcha asked desperately, not truly believing what he was seeing.  
"Don't worry. " Master Roshi declared from the couch. "Goku is there and he'll stop whatevers causing this." He pointed vigorously to the television screen.  
They all breathed a sigh of relief when they saw their saiyan hero running amid the destruction; until he leapt up into a helicopter and proceeded to massacre the people who were attempting to film the scene.

"Something is seriously wrong here. We have to go down there and try to stop it!" Krillen declared.  
He ran through the living room and out the door, Yamcha, Tien, and Choatzu hot on his trail. Master Roshi's cries from them to wait and remain with him went unheeded.

The four of them reached the city at record speed; but by the time they had arrived, the entire place was in ruins. The streets were deserted and silent. Not one single creature moved or made a sound.  
"Everyone stay close." Krillen commanded.  
The four huddled together back-to-back. They would soon find it did them no good.  
"Look! It's Goku!" Yamcha announced.  
"It's Vegeta!" Screamed Krillen.  
The four looked on in horror as their two companions advanced ominously on them.

_Meanwhile at Capsule Corporation  
_Two women staggered from the main house of the Capsule Corporation. Smoke and fire poured out from the lab attached to the house. Blood was splattered all over the two women's face and clothing. Without looking, one could tell that a search for survivors would be fruitless; all people inside this building were now victims of The Creature.

Back in the city, a small boy sitting on a car parked, quite legally, in the middle of town began to giggle evilly.  
"Humans...so stupid and yet so delicious.

_At the Lookout  
_Piccolo staggered back from the edge of the Lookout, frightened and sickened from what he had seen.  
"What is this? What in the hell is this?!" He demanded.

Kami stepped toward him.  
"Do you remember what happened a week ago?"  
"Of course I do! We killed that creature!"  
Kami sighed in sadness. "You killed its host. The Creature is a mutation, and it's now living inside of Son Gohan's body."  
Piccolo stared at him, like he didn't know how to respond.  
"How?" Was all he could muster.  
"The Creature pounced on Gohan, do you remember that?"  
The stare Piccolo gave him was the resounding answer.  
"That Creature wasn't trying to kill him, it just needed to leave a piece of itself behind. All it had to do was barely nic the skin and leave just a hint of it's DNA behind in order to go on living."  
"You're saying that Creature, transfered itself into Gohan?"

Kami nodded the affirmative.  
"What do I do then? How do I get it out of him?" Piccolo asked desperately.  
Kami was silent for a long time.  
"I'm afraid you can't. The only way this Creature can die is if it's host body does without any type of transference. That will also take care of the slaves it has procured."  
A long silence hung in the air.

"I won't kill him." Piccolo stated flatly. "I'll find a way to get Gohan back without sacrificing him to the Creature."  
With that, he turned and faced the earth once more. He was truly afraid now; perhaps it was the fact that he was the only remaining Z warrior standing, perhaps it was the fact that the Creature possessing Gohan was gathering slaves at an alarming rate, perhaps it was the fact that Piccolo knew he may have to kill his best friend, or perhaps it was a combination of all three.  
His fist clenched, and he screamed in frustration.


End file.
